Blog by Carmen Martinez, Policy and Engagement Lead at Scottish Women’s Budget Group
It was Christmas three years ago when I traveled home to Madrid. The winter air wasn’t cold—winters rarely are anymore—but something felt different. For the first time in years, the city welcomed me with rain.
After my mum picked me up from the airport, we drove straight to my grandparents’ house. Inside, relatives teased me about bringing “the Scottish weather” with me, their voices carrying a note of annoyance at the downpour. I, however, felt a quiet happiness. So did my grandfather. Sitting by the window, watching the rain create puddles in the street, he said with a mischievous smile, “This is what we need.”
He had grown up in the countryside, spending half his life as a farmer and a shoemaker. For him, rain was never an inconvenience but a blessing, a sign that the cycles of nature were still in balance. When they faltered, he worried.
Last night, lying in bed and doomscrolling through Instagram, I stumbled on a Channel 4 News clip. This year’s exceptionally dry summer is causing havoc. A farmer from North Lincolnshire described how extreme weather had forced his harvest to finish earlier than ever before: “This is unique in my lifetime,” he said in disbelief. Another farmer, from West Yorkshire, explained that the extreme weather could mean rising prices for products like dairy, and even shortages at certain times of the year. Watching them, I thought of my grandfather on that rainy day in Madrid. And I worried, too.
The headline inflation figure for food and drink in the UK was 4.9% in the year to July 2025. As I analyse the results of our most recent Women’s Survey, it is no surprise that food costs are the number one reason women told us they feel worse off than last year. But if this year’s harvest drives prices even higher, what will this mean for women, for children, and for Scotland’s efforts to eradicate child poverty? Can we deny that those most vulnerable will be hardest hit by the consequences of climate change?These questions are daunting, and at times they can make us feel powerless. But that is exactly why we must come together and speak out.
On 18 September, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland is organising a mass lobby in Edinburgh. I hope many will join. We need our leaders to deliver urgent, fair climate action that also addresses the linked health, inequality and nature crises we face. My grandfather was right that we need balance in nature — but restoring that balance will require our politicians, and all of us, to work together for a better future.